


the fields are painted gold

by Estelle



Series: Arthur/Eames Month [2]
Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: M/M, No Dialogue, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:42:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26993107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Estelle/pseuds/Estelle
Summary: Ariadne just doesn't understand their dynamic. But she's determined to figure it out.
Relationships: Arthur/Eames (Inception)
Series: Arthur/Eames Month [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1974016
Comments: 10
Kudos: 95





	the fields are painted gold

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [The fields are painted gold](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28999971) by [FatimaAlegra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FatimaAlegra/pseuds/FatimaAlegra), [WTF Nolan Brothers 2021 (NolanBrothers)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NolanBrothers/pseuds/WTF%20Nolan%20Brothers%202021)



> For [arthureamesmonth](https://arthureamesmonth.tumblr.com/) week 2: Love Languages
> 
> The title is from Bloom by The Paper Kites, since that was one of the prompts aswell.

Ariadne can’t quite figure them out. She has tried to understand them, but they just don’t make sense to her.  
Eames is openly affectionate, flirting and touching and bantering, and Arthur is just _not_ , and she doesn’t understand why Eames hasn’t just given up by now.  
Surely it must be exhausting to never have any of your feelings returned? Doesn’t he find it disheartening to be shot down every single time?  
She knows that she could just ask, but she’s determined to figure this out on her own. So she keeps observing.

They’re in Bergen for a job, and the warehouse they’ve rented out isn’t quite warming up, no matter how high they turn up the heating.  
Eames keeps complaining about the cold loudly and repeatedly, and Arthur keeps rolling his eyes at him, getting more annoyed every time, and Ariadne is just waiting for him to snap at Eames any minute.  
To her surprise, it never happens.  
Instead, she sees Arthur placing a steaming mug of tea on Eames’ desk when he comes back from the kitchen with his own coffee, and she starts to wonder.

A few months later, she’s on a job with them again, in Kuala Lumpur this time, and the heat is stifling, almost unbearable combined with the humidity, because of course their workplace doesn't have air conditioning.  
Ariadne is grateful for the light summer dresses she brought, and Eames has taken to wearing ridiculously short shorts and leaving his colourful shirts open.  
Arthur on the other hand, is of course still wearing dress pants and pristine white shirts, only foregoing the jacket, and Ariadne has to admire him for it.  
Later in the afternoon, he does roll up his sleeves though, and Eames whistles and waggles his eyebrows at him exaggeratedly, and Ariadne waits for Arthur to reprimand him, but he just sighs and shakes his head. If she didn't know better, she would even say that he is suppressing a smile, but that just can’t be right.  
The next day, when she arrives at the run down apartment functioning as their office, Arthur is at his desk, and Eames is plastered to his back, his arms around him and his chin resting on Arthur’s shoulder, and that really can’t be comfortable in this heat.  
But Arthur isn’t complaining, or shaking Eames off. He’s smiling just a little, and explaining something on his screen, too low for her to hear.  
They haven’t noticed her yet, and she smiles to herself, understanding dawning just a little.

It’s just after Christmas, and they’re all gathered at Cobb’s house for a belated celebration, when she spots them under the mistletoe.  
She quickly hides behind the shoe closet in the hallway, very curious to see what will happen.  
Eames points up, and Arthur shakes his head, but then he leans in, and there’s nothing awkward or hesitant about the kiss. It looks familiar and comfortable, like they have done this a million times, and when they break apart, smiling at each other brightly, she realises that they probably have, and she finally understands.


End file.
